FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS – VOYAGEURS COME TOGETHER OVER COURSE OF FIRST CURLING REGIONAL

AIRDRIE – In curling, reading the ice is sometimes akin to reading Italian when you only understand English – it's really hard (so you have to HURRY HARD)! The Portage College Voyageurs Women's Curling Team got their first taste of ACAC action at the Fall Regional Nov. 21-23 in Airdrie and while they didn't get off to the start they wanted to, by the end of the weekend they were speaking Italian fluently. Davvero molto impressionante!

The team of Ashley Twigge (skip), Brynn Brassard (third), Ash Hennenfent (second), Ashley Tweedy (lead), and Keela Jones (alternate) posted a 1-5 record to sit in sixth place in the seven-team women's draw after the first ACAC bonspiel of the year. They were rocked early in the weekend, losing 16-4 to Lakeland College and 10-3 to Red Deer Polytechnic, for instance, but finished strong, losing 7-6 to Augustana and besting NAIT 6-5 on Sunday morning.

Brassard, playing in her second season for the Voyageurs, noted the Airdrie Curling Club can be an intimidating venue, particularly for the first tournament of the year.

"It's very loud with a whole bunch of teams next to you…So it's obviously nerve-wracking, especially for people that maybe haven't been there before," she said.

The second-year nursing student added that once they were able to settle down, get their bearing and start to read the ice, their play noticeably improved. The TSN Turning Point was likely the game against NAIT.

"We started to feel more comfortable and just less intimidated," said Brassard. "I think NAIT has pretty close to the same skill as us. It ended up being a really close game….so I know for me, it just made us feel more comfortable. You could see that. Everyone was making their shots."

Assistant Coach Destiny Campbell was impressed with how well her curlers adjusted to the challenging playing surface and unfamiliar venue during the course of the weekend.

"Once they were able to kind of settle in and read the ice a little bit better, you could see their confidence came and they were able to call their shots better and get a little bit more confidence in each other too."

As they prepare for the next regional, January 16-18, 2026, in Edmonton,  and then the provincial championships at home at the Lac La Biche and District Curling Club, the Voyageurs know they have lots to work on, including strategy and better draw weight. Campbell has no doubt that they are up to the task, as evidenced by their improved play over the course of their three days in Airdrie.

"They can do it, they can all make fabulous shots," she said. "They didn't falter under pressure and there weren't many misses because of nerves…Lots of our games, although the scoreboard didn't show it, were really, really close. We made some really great shots."

Photo credits to SAIT Trojans Athletic department